Dwell on these questions as you look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-11:

1. How does Paul emphasize the significance of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, and what key elements of the gospel message does he highlight?

2. Why does Paul stress the historical and eyewitness nature of Jesus' resurrection appearances, and how does he invite the Corinthians to validate these events by referring to living witnesses?

3. In what way does Paul's personal testimony of encountering Christ on the road to Damascus serve to illustrate the transformative power of God's grace, and how does it motivate Paul to fervently proclaim the gospel message?

Transcript:

 So, we arrive here in 1 Corinthians 15 with Paul spelling out what the gospel is for us. Notice this is the gospel that he preached to them. It's the gospel that they received. And it isn't the gospel in which they stand, and it is the gospel by which they are being saved. This is the message that they are to believe.

This is the good news, that's what gospel means.  This is the good news that saves them. So here is what Paul lines out for them. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. So, as we stop there and think about that little bit that we've had so far, Let's think about this.

When Paul says, in accordance with the scriptures, he isn't meaning Matthew, Mark, and Luke, because they were, they were probably beginning to circulate, or early versions and early written versions of the Gospels were maybe starting to circulate. But 1st Corinthians is probably earlier than those documents, and so he's not talking about those.

He's talking about the Old Testament. He's saying that this is what was promised all the way back. This is what we were hoping for.  And so that is the message here that Paul is saying. Christ was to die for our sins. This was the point of Scripture. And then it says that he was buried and he was raised on the third day once again in accordance with the Scriptures.

And then that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, and then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. You get the idea. Paul is spelling out what happened. Now, this is really interesting because we are very confident that what Paul is repeating here is not something that maybe would have been heard by these people the first time.

This was more than likely, and again, we're very confident of this, a very early Christian creed. Perhaps even a creed that was circulating in the churches within three to five years. of when the events of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus would have happened.  So, this is a very early creed that the church has said, and Paul is putting it out there for them to be reminded of.

And this is a message that they heard and now it's the message that he is proclaiming and all of the apostles are proclaiming. This message of Christ's death and resurrection for the salvation of their sins. And there's something else here that is really important for us to understand. Look at what he does.

That he's saying that Jesus appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time and then he puts this out there most of whom are Still alive though some have fallen asleep.  Why would he do that? What is Paul trying to do? He's saying in this we're not sure what elements here of this of this creed Perhaps the 500 was a part of it.

But what is Paul saying? Why is he putting this out there?  That, hey, there were people who witnessed this and most of them are still alive, so go ask them. If you want to, you can go check this. This is not something that was done in a corner. This is not something that was hidden, this isn't something that you can't go and ask the eyewitnesses about.

Paul is challenging the people that he is proclaiming this to, to say, Hey, if you want to check, there are people who are still alive. You can do this. This was not something that was done secretly. This isn't an ecstatic vision that one of the apostles had in a cave, and came out and told them, and  now we're all supposed to believe it because they saw it.

No. Paul is saying that people saw this. Many, many people saw this and it's the message that has been proclaimed to many people.  And he also says that Jesus appeared to him. Well, we know the story of Saul on the road to Emmaus getting knocked down and having Christ appear to him. And Paul is saying then with this that he appeared to me too.

He said, but I'm the least worthy. I persecuted the church. But God's grace was enough even for me. God gave me grace. And so I, so he's saying that he has, is now working because he had persecuted the church. He's now working and doing everything he can to share the gospel.  And so as we think about this passage for us, this is an important one because You know, sometimes we confuse what, what the gospel is, you know, we think that maybe the gospel is be nice to other people or we think, uh, perhaps the gospel is to do social good  and all of that stuff is good and it's a result of our believing the gospel.

It's our response to Christ having died and risen for our sins. But that stuff is not itself the gospel. The gospel is news. It is an announcement of what Christ has done.  And so may we remember this passage, this creed that is here,  and may we remember that and remember the truth of what God has done for us in Christ.

May that be what is in our minds because it's this gospel that came to us that the Spirit used to bring us to faith. And so may we be like Paul. May we understand that, that we are the chief of sinners. May we understand that we need grace more than, than anyone. Each one of us feels that way. And may we respond by desiring to share that message.

Paul was obsessed with it. May we find ways to share that message that others may hear and believe the good news of this gospel of Christ's death and resurrection for our salvation.